“I don’t suppose you could cover for Pushing Limits’ injured drummer so they can play at the festival after all?” I ask Nova.
She bangs the bottom of her bucket again. “I drummer.”
I laugh. “You’re a very good one.”
She beams and continues banging the bucket.
“I’m sorry about what happened with the band, Troy,” Olivia says, shoveling sand into her red bucket.
“I’m not sorry I started organizing the festival, but with everything going on, their canceling is too much. I’ll be glad once it’s over.” I crouch on the other side of Nova and begin scooping sand into my green bucket.
“I don’t know how you’re managing to stay sane with everything you’ve dumped on your shoulders.”
“I haven’t been organizing the festival on my own. I’ve had help.”
Olivia looks up from her bucket, sympathy softening her expression. “I know, but you’ve made it more personal than anyone else has. You believe if the festival fails, it means you also failed Colton. But that’s not true.”
“I failed Colton way before the festival was even a spark of an idea.” The words taste bitter on my tongue, regret and a sense of powerlessness coating them. “The festival has nothing to do with him.”
Olivia huffs a warning I’m about to be lectured. I know the sound all too well. “There are two things infinitely wrong with all of that. First. You didn’t fail Colton. He failed himself. And that wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. You have to stop beating yourself up over that, Troy.”
I grunt because she’s wrong, but I do appreciate what she’s trying to do.
She gives another huff, but this one is more like a strangled groan. “You’re as pigheaded as he was. Remember how he would get all these crazy ideas when we were kids, and he refused to back down from the challenge? Always having to prove himself invincible…”
Her shoulders droop. “And then he wasn’t invincible anymore.” Her voice is a whisper, barely heard over the giggled shrieks farther along the beach from a group of little kids running in and out of the water. She shoves her plastic shovel into the sand.
My phone rings in my pocket, and for a fleeting second I’m tempted to not check who’s calling. I don’t feel like talking to another client who’s canceling because I hired Jess.
But not answering won’t change anything either. I accept the call, deciding to get it over with. Only then does it dawn on me that the area code isn’t from around here.
“Hi, Troy Carson?” a man asks from the other end. There’s something vaguely familiar about the deep cheery voice.
“Speaking.” I push to my feet.
“Hello, this is David Dixon. I spoke with Nolan about your idea, and he talked to Jared, Kirk, and Aaron. They would be happy to perform at the festival with Mason…if you can convince him to join them. He’s in LA tomorrow. The odds of convincing him might be better if you come here and talk to him in person.”
“But how will that work when they live in different cities?”
“Convince him to join them, and they’ll figure out the technicalities. If worse comes to worse, there’s always Zoom.”
“Okay, I can do that,” I say, mentally rearranging my plans for the next few days. “Thank you!” I get some more details from David and end the call.
Olivia is peering up at me, her eyebrows lifted, silently asking what that was all about.
“That was the manager for Pushing Limits.” I haven’t convinced Mason of anything yet, but that doesn’t keep me from grinning. There’s still a chance the festival won’t be a disappointing disaster.
A huge-ass smile curves across Olivia’s face. “They changed their mind about canceling?”
“Not quite. Their old drummer will be in LA tomorrow. If I can convince him to join the band for the one day, Pushing Limits will perform in the festival.”
Olivia shrieks, jumping to her feet, and hugs me. I spin her like I used to when we were younger, both of us laughing.
“That’s amazing news, Troy,” she replies as I continue swinging her in a circle.
Nova jumps to her feet and bounces like a bunny, giggling and cheering. She has no idea what the excitement is about.
“It was Jess who reminded me that Mason used to be the band’s drummer. Otherwise, I would’ve never thought to ask if he could fill in for Tomas.” I put Olivia down and pick Nova up. Laughing, I swing her around too.
